novembermommy

Hi,

I am a first time mom who has a two and a half month old boy born in November. I breast feed exclusively and will be joining work soon and will be working from home. So I went and bought a medela single breast pump (mechanical) for occasional use as I plan to pump and use the bottle only if I am on a call and he is hungry and I cannot feed him at that point. I pumped once and tried to feed him (used playtex nurser and the playtex drop in with a latex nipple - the lady at babies-r-us told us that this would help reduce gas ingestion). it took me around twenty minutes to pump about 4 oz and he fed without any problem. This was about three days ago. Here is my problem.... For the past two days, he has gotten really fussy when I put him to my breast and gives this piercing scream as though he is in pain even before I put him to my breast, right when I am getting into the feeding position! And even while feeding, he lets go and cries as though he is frustrated... This is worrying me as so far, we haven't had any trouble and now this.... I have read that pumping increases milk flow, so could the pumping have increased my milk flow and could this be making him frustrated? Has any one else had this problem? Does anyone have any suggestions? Thank you so much for your help and suggestions in advance...

Kaytee

it is possible that your let down is scaring him. Can you feel it? I know I had a strong let down and sometimes made my dd jump off in shock tehn I would awuirt her in the face. lol

Another thing is he may have nipple confusion. It is strongly reccomded that you do not offer a bottle until at least 3 months of age. I would step away from teh bottle for at least a few weeks until you reestablish the nursing. Then if you still feel you need to pump and feed, then try at that point.
If you are home and are worried about not being able to nurse while on the phone or computer of whatever, it does get soooo easy at about 3-4 months old and you will not even have to worry about that. If you need hands free nursing try a baby wrap or sling. Then baby can nurse while you do what you need to do!!!

Good luck and if you have any questions please ask and congrats on a baby boy and for nursing him!

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novembermommy

Dear Kaytee thank you so much for responding. I think I understand what you mean about the strong let down... I can feel a bit of pain and like you said there is squirting! :-D I have stopped using the bottle after that one single use. Like you said, I will try not using it for as long as possible. I was actually planning on quitting work if they did not let me work from home because I did not want to switch to bottle feeding... Once again thank you...

BTW, turned out that he has come down with a cold... So that is contributing to the irritability. We are doing the entire holding him up, using the humidifier and all things that can help calm him...

Once again thank you so much for your response and your wishes....

Hugs...

Kaytee

I'm glad he seems to be nursing for you better. Hope he gets over his cold quickly

__________________

If you can't stand behind our troops, feel free to stand in front of them!
http://www.spcnicholasidalski.com